The European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights, based at the EUIPO, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) work together to publish studies and research on global trade in counterfeit and pirated products. The reports analyse the impact on the economy and the share of international trade affected by the phenomenon.
The latest study in the series, Global Trade in Fakes: A Worrying Threat, analyses the scale of the worldwide trade in counterfeit goods. It is an update of two previous studies on this subject, published in 2016 and 2019, respectively.
This third study is based on the most recent customs seizures data available for 2019. It shows that imports of fakes into the EU have remained roughly constant between 2016 and 2019, at a value of around EURÂ 120 billion.
Overall imports grew during the period, so as a percentage of total trade, imports of fakes are now somewhat lower (5.8% of all EU imports). But the fact the volumes stayed the same shows the resiliency of the criminal networks involved and their adaptability to changing economic conditions.